For the past decade, MDRC has evaluated a number of interventions designed to improve the outcomes of community college students, including enhanced counseling, learning communities, and financial incentives. Encouragingly, many of these strategies have produced positive effects, affirming that changes in institutional practices and policies can…

Intended for use with "Accreditation Criteria and Procedures of the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs," this guidebook is designed to help early childhood educators in their progress through the process of program accreditation by the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs. Provided are (1) instructions and materials for…

In China, classroom observation has acquired a bad reputation in the English-as-a-Second-Language profession. A project designed to change this negative image and promote observation as a powerful means of improving both teaching and teachers' self-development efforts is described. A British teacher and Chinese counterpart developed a partnership…

A teacher professional development program in Virginia identified 15 performance indicators of effective teaching. Teachers are given 5 years and 30 observations (during which only teacher strengths are documented) in which to demonstrate and assess their proficiency. Peer evaluations and monetary incentives are successfully utilized. (MLF)

Describes the peer observation program developed by faculty at California State University, Dominguez Hills, its structure and adaptations, outcomes, and recommendations for development of formative peer observation programs. The program helps reduce faculty professional isolation by providing an informal structure for discussion of teaching and…

Under general guidelines, each teacher at Angier School designs his/her own system for pupil evaluation, including anecdotal reports and parent conferences. This article describes the school's pupil evaluation policy and the workshops on observation and behavior description that were conducted to help teachers implement the system. (SJL)

A study of the faculty evaluation system at Nene College (England) is reported and compared with studies in other British universities. Evaluator, faculty, and administrator views of the program were generally positive, particularly concerning the opportunities the evaluation interviews present for discussing issues. Assessment by line manager…

This document consists of the three 1989 issues of "The Teacher Trainer," a journal for language teacher educators. The following articles appear in these issues: "From a Garage to a Teachers' Centre"; "Taking Risks--Being Unprepared?"; "Teacher Echoing and More"; "Teaching Lemon as a Foreign Language:…